


Everything Carries Me to You

by Philyra



Series: Blue Skies Meet the Sunrise [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stargate SG-1, The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-07
Updated: 2012-09-07
Packaged: 2017-11-13 18:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/506216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philyra/pseuds/Philyra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, five times Cam and Darcy missed a date, and one time they didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything Carries Me to You

**One**

“You weren’t kidding about growing up on a farm,” Cam observed as he turned off the main road. This part of southern Wisconsin was a little hilly, covered in fields, and beautiful in a way that only the Midwest could be. Life here was simple, peaceful, and moved slowly. It was his kind of place.

“Yup, it was the whole ten-miles-to-school kind of thing.” Darcy’s dangled outside the open window, making idle waves with the breeze. “You’ll want to take a right at the next country road, and our house is the first driveway on the left. You’ll have to go all the way up.”

Cam obliged, eyes raking appreciatively over the emerald-green corn, which was already knee-high. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as a farm girl at first, you know. Thought you were city born and bred.”

She snorted at the thought. “Me? Please. When I’m in New York, I’m either at Stark Tower or SHIELD headquarters. I start getting hives if I have to go anywhere else. Turn here!” She sighed happily as he drove up to the beautiful, modern clapboard farmhouse. “Home sweet home.” She glanced his way. “Nervous?”

“Of course. I want your family to like me, you know?” Cam drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, his expression on slightly filled with trepidation. “Have they said anything about, you know, the age difference-“

“Nope, and they really shouldn’t care about it, because we don’t.” Darcy reached over and tugged on his leather jacket to pull him in for a kiss. He responded instantly, one hand resting solidly at the back of her neck. She pulled away with a contented hum and one final swipe of her tongue across his lower lip. He tasted like the Starburst he’d been popping the entire ride up. “Besides, Dad was over the moon when I said you were an Air Force pilot. You’re respectable and maybe only a teensy bit reckless.”

Cam’s eyes danced. “And the others weren’t? Respectable, I mean.”

She shrugged. “I dated the football team’s wide receiver in high school, then a full on hippie in college who now chases down whale hunters. You tell me.”

He pretended to think it over. “I think my chances are good.”

“I could have told you that.” Frantic barking from outside the SUV had her squealing and jumping out the door. “My babies!”

Cam rounded the side to the sight of Darcy on her knees, her arms thrown around two masses of panting, wriggling joy. “Who are these handsome guys?” he asked, kneeling beside her and promptly getting a face full of ecstatic doggy kisses.

“Meet Dee and Dum. If you want to talk big, stupid, loveable farm dogs, look no further.”

The door to the house burst open. “Darcy!” The woman who ran out had the same hair, eyes, and engaging smile as the one kneeling beside him. He had a weird feeling that he was looking a few decades into the future, because Darcy was her mother in miniature.

“Hot Mama!” Darcy laughed, running into her arms.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here,” Amanda Lewis said happily. “I keep telling you to visit more often, but do you listen?” She turned to Cam, clearly not expecting an answer from her daughter, who looked appropriately exasperated at the question. Amanda’s blue eyes gleamed with speculation as she looked him over. “So, this is your hotshot pilot.”

“I’m no hotshot, ma’am, just Cameron Mitchell,” Cam said modestly, extending his hand.

Amanda bypassed the hand and hugged him instead. “Amanda is fine, Cam – can I call you Cam? Don’t you dare call me ma’am, that’s my mother!” She shot an approving look her daughter’s way. “Well Darcy, you sure can pick ‘em! This one’s a stud!”

Darcy laughed as the tips of Cam’s ears turned bright red. “That he is, Mom, that he is.”

The door banged open again. “Baby girl!”

“Daddy!”

“Our Darcy is a daddy’s girl,” Amanda observed fondly as Darcy ran up the porch steps. “I wouldn’t worry too much though, Cam. Darcy obviously thinks very highly of you, so that goes a long way.”

“I just need to prove myself with cheese, right?” he asked.

She threw her head back and laughed. “I think you’ll fit right in, Cam.”

A pickup truck pulled up alongside Cam’s SUV. “Short Round!”

“Jerk face!” Darcy ran back down the steps to throw herself into the arms of the newest arrival.

“That’s Darcy’s older brother, Jim. He lives in town with his wife, Shelby, and they come in to help with the running of the business.”

“Sad to say, our Darcy is more into eating cheese than making it,” Malcolm Lewis commented, slinging a casual arm around his wife’s shoulders. He extended his free hand. “It’s nice to put a face to the name, Colonel Mitchell.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, sir.”

“Cam, stop sir-ing and ma’am-ing everyone,” Darcy commanded, dragging her brother and sister-in-law over. “Jim, Shelby, this is Cam.”

It was obvious that while Darcy took after Amanda, Jim took after Malcolm. Both men were tall with lean, muscular builds, and dark hair and eyes. Cam was starting to think that that wicked twinkle was an entirely Lewis trait, though.

“Welcome to the farm, Cam.” Jim’s handshake was firm, his smile friendly. “They teach you how to whip up a good barbecue in the Air Force?”

“Not in the Air Force, but back in Kansas, yes,” Cam responded, a grin spreading across his face. There was no Midwestern bonding activity quite like a barbecue.

“Good answer. What are we waiting for, then?”

Darcy made shooing motions with her hands when Cam looked her way. “I’ll take care of our bags, now go!”

Shelby slipped her arm through Darcy’s. “Now that is a nice hunk of man. Good job, Darce,” she said approvingly.

Darcy tilted her head as the three men ambled around the side of the house. Life was always better when Cam wore jeans. “Yeah, they do make a pretty picture, don’t they?” she mused.

“Where on earth did you find him, again? I thought you worked for SHIELD?”

“I’m a liaison for his division of the Air Force.” It was close enough to the truth for Darcy not to feel guilty. As far as her family knew, she’d been recruited out of college by SHIELD, moving up through the ranks by liaising with other government departments. They knew nothing about her work with the Avengers, even if she did admit that she caught a glimpse of them every once in a while. And for now, the Stargate was still kept from the public, so there was no way she could even go near _that_ subject. “We met and just kind of…clicked.”

“Well, you can tell us all about it inside,” Amanda said briskly. “We’ve got potatoes to peel and pies to bake, not to mention a whole lot of shandy to get through.”

“You’re singing my tune, Mama.”

 

“Awww, look at you,” Darcy teased as Cam came out of the processing room, still clad in a white apron, booties, gloves, and a hairnet. “How did it go?”

“Jim and Malcolm put me to work,” he admitted good-naturedly. “I liked it. We’ll see how my cheese turns out. Probably won’t stack up to Shelby’s though.”

“Shelby has an advantage. She’s a dairy scientist.”

Jim came out and clapped Cam on the shoulder. “You should be proud, Short Round. Cam here might just have a future in cheese making. Let me know if you ever want to give up your jet. Mom might just die of happiness, if it means Short Round will move back here.”

The two of them exchanged secretive smiles. “Thanks, Jim. I appreciate the offer, but…not a chance.” Cam couldn’t imagine a life outside of the SGC. Even if he managed to make it to old age (and he fully intended to), he imagined that he’d live out the rest of it either consulting or shuffling papers for Homeworld Command.

“I kind of figured. Come on, let’s eat.”

Cam caught Darcy’s wrist just outside the kitchen. “So,” he drawled, eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’ve got an idea for later. What do you say about you, me, a haystack, some beer, and star-gazing?”

“Hmmm.” She pretended to think about it. “Throw some smooches in there and you’ve got yourself a deal, flyboy.” She loved her family, she really did, but they’d been underfoot ever since she and Cam arrived. She got so little alone time with him as it was.

His hands slid into the back pockets of her jeans, giving her behind a fond squeeze. “That goes without saying, sweetheart.”

She’d never been a fan of pet names but somehow, it was different with Cam. Maybe it was the way his voice dipped low and the sounds came out low and liquid, effectively short-circuiting her brain. She stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “One thing though.”

“Anything.”

Her lips moved to his ear. “Lose the hairnet.”

Cam’s laugh echoed around the porch as he whipped the offending garment off.

Of course, that was the exact moment that both of their phones went off. Darcy rolled her eyes at Cam as they retreated to opposite corners to answer. “Lewis.”

“Agent Lewis, sorry to call you during vacation.” To his credit, Major Paul Davis did sound contrite. “Colonel Carter needs you and Colonel Mitchell on the Hammond. The rest of SG-1 is already waiting. Colonel Carter will brief you. Be ready for a beam-out in fifteen minutes.”

“Do SHIELD and the Avengers need to be on standby?”

“That would be preferable.”

“I’ll let them know. Over and out.”

“Darcy?” Amanda stepped out onto the porch. “Dinner is ready. Is everything all right?”

Darcy traded regretful looks with Cam, who disappeared inside to gather their bags. Thank goodness she’d learned to pack quickly and efficiently since becoming the SHIELD liaison to Homeworld Command. She never knew when she needed to go out to Cheyenne Mountain, Atlantis, D.C., and everywhere in between. “Sorry, Mom. Cam and I have been called out. We have to go.”

“Now?” She looked surprised and disappointed as she followed Darcy back inside. “You can’t even eat?”

“Duty calls. We have to save the world and all that,” was the flippant reply.

Amanda rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”

“It’s true,” she said in a singsong voice. Hey, sometimes the best defense was to tell the truth. She poked her head into the dining room. “Sorry guys, Cam and I have to jet. Issues of national security and all.”

After many hugs and kisses and promises to visit, they were finally allowed to go. Cam pulled the SUV onto a deserted stretch of road just outside the farm. He waited quietly while Darcy called SHIELD to update them on the situation and to arrange for someone to pick up their vehicle. “It’s a shame,” he remarked regretfully as she hung up. “I was looking forward to the haystack.”

Darcy reached over and linked her fingers with his as the world dissolved around them. “Rain check.”

 

**Two**

It was one of those rare moments when Cam had free time and could actually leave the mountain. He enjoyed coming to visit Darcy in New York, where he could see his best girl in relative privacy. New York was always an exciting place to visit, not least because of all the time he spent at Stark Tower. The atmosphere there was unique. After the requisite threats on Darcy’s behalf from Thor, Jane, and Tony, the Avengers and their assorted crew had accepted him as her significant other. Enough time had passed that they considered him as both colleague and friend. Cam got along best with Steve, and had a good time with Rhodey whenever their paths happened to cross in New York. Cam had been a year behind him at the Academy, and Rhodey was one of those natural officers you couldn’t help but admire.

However, such things were far from Cam’s mind at present. He placed slow, lingering kisses down the length of Darcy’s neck, lingering at the hollow of her throat where her scent was strongest. She always smelled deep and mysterious, with just a hint of sweetness. It drove him nuts – in the best possible way.

He drank in her short, breathy gasps like fine wine, running his hands over those lush, generous curves. “You’re devastating, sweetheart,” he murmured reverently, trailing more kisses along the curve of her shoulder. He had always wondered how a woman’s skin could taste so sweet, then chalked it up to one of those wonderful, wonderful mysteries that man was never supposed to solve.

“Cam.” His name was expelled on something close to a sob. Her hands slid along the taut, shifting muscles of his back. His dog tags were cold against her belly, a welcome contrast on her overheated skin. He was doing that _thing_ again, where he moved so slow but made her feel so good that she never knew if she ought to kill him or give thanks. “Please.” She cupped his ass, gripping hard as her hips canted up to meet his, the sinuous movements dragging matching groans from their lips.

“Soon enough, darling.” He wanted to enjoy her, slowly and steadily, until they were both out of their minds. Still, he moved against her deliberately, loving the feeling of her body against his. What was that poem again? “’I like your body, I like what it does, I like its hows…I like kissing this and that of you.’”

The words buzzed over her skin, as heady as his touch. “Poetry, flyboy?” she managed breathlessly. She might have expected such a thing from Daniel, but not Cam.

Cam chuckled and nuzzled her ear. “Surprised? Should have done this before. You’re made for poetry, darling.” He propped his chin in his hand, his eyes dark and focused as they traced the path of his fingers over her body. “’And I in these lines say: like this I want you, love…how your hair lifts up and how your mouth smiles, light as the water of the spring upon the pure stones…’”

Oh. _Oh_. This man was going to be the death of her, Darcy thought wildly. It was all too bright and too beautiful to bear. She reached for him desperately, and he was all too willing to match her need with his…

Until the alarms began to blare. Cam dropped his head to Darcy’s shoulder with a pained sigh, hoping that the ringing was all in his head. Darcy, in the meantime, was letting out a truly impressive litany of curses directed towards the universe at large.

“A moment! All we needed was one goddamn moment! You have got to be kidding me!” The two of them rolled away from each other. “JARVIS?”

“My apologies, Ms. Lewis, Colonel Mitchell. Several creations of Dr. Doom are approaching the tower.”

Cam was already tugging on his jeans. “Protocol?” he inquired, tossing Darcy’s sweater over to her from its place on the floor.

“I’m the nearest SHIELD agent, so I have to go and cover Jane and Betty in the labs.” Darcy double-checked her taser and her Glock, then passed her spare pistol over to him. “You can help.”

He grinned and produced a zat. “Glad to.” His eyes darkened as he looked her over. He tangled a hand in her hair and pressed his lips to hers, hot and hungry and full of promise. “We’ll continue this later.”

“I’m counting on it. And who knows, maybe I’ll have some poetry for you.”

 

**Three**

“What were you _thinking_?” Watching Bruce Banner lose his legendary calm was like being a deer transfixed by a car’s headlights. You knew you had to run away but all you could do was stand there and wait for the inevitable.

Or in this case, the not so inevitable. There was no green tinge to his eyes or skin, and the Other Guy _had_ to be tired from his romp with the doom bots. The battle had finished hours ago and now that the debriefings were over, everyone was back at Stark Tower. Darcy and Cam had tried to tiptoe away and finish their unfinished business, but had been caught in the crossfire of a smaller, but no less intense fight alongside the other Avengers.

“I was thinking that I had a chance to shut them down and I was right!” Betty shot back, eyes flashing dangerously. Her right arm was in a sling, her wrist broken from one swipe of a doom bot’s arm. A series of butterfly stitches marched over her right cheek. Darcy wondered how the stitches seemed to add to, rather than detract from, the scientist’s ethereal beauty. Life was decidedly unfair.

“Those bots were dangerous, Betty! You should have just left it alone.” His eyes slid in Darcy’s direction. “Darcy-“

Betty poked him hard in the chest. “Don’t you dare blame this on Darcy, Bruce! She did try and stop me, not that it matters, because _I knew what I was doing_! I figured out the frequency of the signal used to control the bots and then blocked it!”

It was true. A few bots had managed to get into the labs at Stark Tower. It had taken a lot of running, a lot of scuffling, and a heck of a lot of shooting before Betty, broken wrist and all, fiddled with the lab equipment and brought all of the bots to a dead stop. She had saved the day.

Bruce ran his hands through his hair, forcing it to clump and stand wildly in all directions. “I don’t care about that!” he shouted. Across the room, Natasha flinched. Though she and Bruce had a great deal of respect for one another and were friends, the assassin was still somewhat twitchy (or as twitchy as she ever could get) when it came to the Hulk.

Betty’s hands fisted on her hips. There was no fear in her, not when it came to Bruce. “Oh, well, what _do_ you care about?”

“ _You_!” His voice cracked. And just like that, all of the fight drained out of him. He crossed to her now, his hands open and beseeching. “I care about you, Betty. I can’t…I can’t lose you. Not again.”

“Oh Bruce,” Betty sighed, her anger dissipating as well. “I can take care of myself, you know that. I’ve done it before.”

“I know, I do.” He pulled her into his arms, pressing his lips to her hair. “And I love that. It doesn’t make me feel any better though.” He pulled away and his expression was decidedly sheepish. “It’s just…I panicked. Especially because I had plans.”

Her brow furrowed. “Bruce, it was just dinner. We always have dinner.”

“Dinner at Le Bernardin,” Darcy informed Cam in an undertone, her eyes darting between the two with interest. “It’s Betty’s favorite restaurant.”

“Not…those kinds of plans.” Bruce glanced around and ignored the look of unholy glee that was spreading across Tony’s face. He shrugged and turned back to Betty, his mind made up. “But uh…maybe it’s better this way.” He produced a small navy blue box and sank to a knee. “Elizabeth Ross, I love you more than I can ever say. We’ve been through…so much, and I don’t want to spend another day without you. Will you marry me…and the Other Guy?”

Darcy bit back a happy squeal and clasped her hands in front of her face. She’d finally seen a real, honest-to-god proposal, and this one was definitely movie worthy. Jane was silently jumping up and down with joy, while Thor, Steve, and Clint sported broad grins. A tiny, pleased smile lurked around Natasha’s lips, and Tony looked positively gleeful.

Betty didn’t even wait for him to get to his feet. “Yes!” she cried, peppering his face with kisses. Bruce managed to fumble the ring onto her finger before sweeping her around to the cheers and applause of their appreciative audience.

Cam’s arms slid around Darcy’s waist and she felt his chin drop to her shoulder. “Well, how about that?”

“How about that, indeed,” she agreed, leaning back against him, regarding the whole scene with a fond gaze.

“This is a most auspicious day!” Thor boomed. “We must celebrate it!”

“I couldn’t agree with you more, Point Break,” Tony said exuberantly, coming up to give his congratulations to the happy couple. “I think we can still swing dinner at Le Bernardin…if you don’t mind the rest of us crashing your party.” His tone of voice said that he couldn’t believe that Bruce would ever say no.

His instincts were spot on. Instead, the scientist’s smile was small but genuine as he looked at his friends. “That would be great.”

Poetry could wait, Darcy decided as she darted forward to oooh and aaah over the engagement ring. This was one interruption that she was more than happy to take.

 

**Four**

It seemed that her previous stint as Jane’s intern would forever haunt her. In light of the Tesseract’s return to Asgard, Jane alone seemed to hold the key for exploring other worlds. Those who wanted that power for themselves had somehow gotten the bright idea that Darcy was an acceptable substitute for Jane herself or access to any of her research.

She’d been seized on the train between D.C. and New York. One minute she’d been pondering the latest movements of the Lucian Alliance and the next the world around her had gone appropriately foggy.

The cell she’d woken in was…cliché, to say the least. Cramped and cold and dark. She’d woken up curled onto a low metal shelf, still dressed in her own clothes but missing her shoes and bag. 

Darcy had been absolutely furious with herself during those first few hours by herself. She was a SHIELD agent, damn it. Natasha, Clint, and various members of SG-1 and AR-1 had taken it upon themselves to make her as competent in the field as possible. She knew how to be vigilant. She’d gone on missions, damn it! But she’d gotten complacent on the train and now she was the unwilling guest to some idiots with delusions of grandeur.

Except that her captors weren’t really idiots. Darcy had to give them that – they were proper villains. They never revealed themselves. She was always hooded when she was taken out of her cell and they deliberately took her different ways so that she never knew where she was going. They wore masks and dark, unmarked clothes, and used voice distorters to keep her from recognizing them. She was also quite sure that they switched off, so that she couldn’t even differentiate people through their body types.

The torture was creative. She’d never heard of anything quite like it, which was surprising considering her clearance levels within SHIELD and Homeworld Command. The closest thing was the Go’auld hand device, but that was only in how it affected the body rather than any technological similarity. Not that she could see it – but she felt the soft, sticky, electrode-like pads that they placed on various portions of her body. The goal was pain, pure and simple. They started off with nothing more than a mild tickle, but yanked up the voltage, or whatever it was, the more that she mouthed off.

And boy, did she mouth off. Darcy hadn’t worked with Jane for nigh unto two years now. Any knowledge that she might have had regarding Einstein-Rosen bridges (and that was saying something) had long since been replaced by information regarding the Stargate and her work with Homeworld Command. Not that she would have told them anything had she remembered. As if she would betray Jane or SHIELD.

There were a few small miracles, though: her captors knew absolutely nothing about the Stargate. If they were this desperate to get their hands on spotty, second-hand knowledge of Jane’s research, Darcy didn’t want to think about what they’d do if they knew about the two stable wormholes stationed on Earth, let alone the fleet and Atlantis.

“Oooh, shivery,” she snarked, feeling her muscles go weak and watery after a particularly nasty jolt of their torture concoction. “I know you guys can do better than that.”

It wasn’t that difficult to drag up enough anger and resentment to keep mouthing off, despite the pain. Not only did they want information she sure as hell wasn’t going to give them, but they’d kidnapped her before her first visit to Kansas to meet Cam’s parents. She really had to do something about making good first impressions. It wasn’t like Cam could tell them that she’d been kidnapped because some evil, anonymous villains wanted to get their Napoleon on in other worlds. Sure, SHIELD and Homeworld Command had cover stories up the wazoo, but it was the principle of the thing.

“You are running out of chances, Agent Lewis. Tell us about the equations.”

“Yeah, let me think about that.” She pretended to pause. Perhaps it was time to go for broke. SHIELD would have raised the alert once she didn’t check in, not to mention that Cam was supposed to meet her at the train station.

Time passed strangely here. Her captors had been quick to ensure that she did not fall into any recognizable routine, taking her away at different intervals and disturbing her sleep. Her best guess was that she had been missing for at least three days.

Darcy had faith that someone was coming. When in doubt, she had the sub dermal locator that Homeworld Command used to get a transportation lock for beaming. It doubled quite handily as a tracking device. The transmitter itself was made using Asgard technology, and so far had passed beneath her captors’ notice.

“Have you reached a decision, Agent Lewis?”

She tilted her chin up defiantly, though the gesture probably lost its effect beneath her hood. “You know, those Darth Vader voices really don’t do you any good.” Her voice dripped with disdain. “Of course I’ve made my decision, you asshats. You’re delusional if you think I’m actually going to tell you anything. Well, not anything. We can totally discuss the stylistic choices of the cast of Jersey Shore-“

There was no verbal warning, just _agony_. Was this the same kind of torture that Westley went through during _The Princess Bride_ , courtesy of Prince Humperdinck’s wheel of death? Darcy could only wonder, with rising panic, if her Inigo Montoya and Fezzik were coming and if they had a Miracle Max in tow. She was definitely making inroads to “mostly dead,” if her body’s response to the torture was anything to go by. Who was Fezzik? Thor? Tony definitely had the theatrics of Inigo. And if she was Westley, did that make Cam Buttercup? Gods, her mind was really starting to go if she was seriously considering these things.

White light burst in her vision and yay, that meant eventual unconsciousness and blessed, blessed relief.

Except the white light didn’t resolve itself into darkness. Pain still sizzled along her skin and Darcy heard voices. _Real_ voices, none of that distorted, tinny stuff. Gentle hands removed the hood and she almost screamed aloud at the blinding brightness of the lights.

“Agent Lewis, can you understand me?” That was a familiar voice, albeit one that she wasn’t expecting.

“Colonel Caldwell?” She was aboard the _Daedalus_?

“My apologies for the delay. We got here as quickly as we could when it was clear that SHIELD was having a difficult time locating you. We’re transporting you down to the SHIELD hospital in New York now.”

Caldwell was a bit of a stick in the mud, but he was good people. “Thank you,” she managed gratefully.

“Transporting now.”

 

She woke up to find her hand clasped in a familiar grasp, and an even more familiar head of hair propped on her bed. Talk about your role reversals, she thought, recalling Cam’s little tango with the Lucian Alliance. “You better have macaroons, flyboy.”

His head shot up at the sound of her voice. “ _Darcy_.” The sheer relief and elation packed into the two syllables of her name had tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

“Miss me?”

“I would say you have no idea, but I’m pretty sure you do.” He brought her hand up and brushed his lips over her knuckles, blue eyes solemn. “I didn’t bring macaroons because you have an utterly incomprehensible dislike for coconut, unless something has changed in that regard. Nah, Jane and I made chocolate chip cookies.”

“I don’t know whether I should be touched or utterly terrified.” Sam had told her about Cam’s attempts at making macaroons whilst Jane was a complete disaster in the kitchen.

He pretended to look wounded. “You should be touched, of course.”

“What…?” she couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.

Luckily, he understood. “When the _Daedalus_ pinpointed your position, a response team moved in. We got ‘em, Darce.”

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She could wait until later to hear the specifics, but for now it was enough to know that they’d been taken care of. “Did you suit up with the Avengers, flyboy?”

“Yeah.” Cam reached out with his other hand to cup her face, brushing his thumb over the curve of her cheek. “We couldn’t be sure if it was SHIELD or Homeworld Command-related, so we all went in. I came here as soon as I could.”

“What did you tell your parents?”

He grinned. “What do you think? That we were saving the world. They’ve gotten used to that excuse. They’re still expecting us, though.”

“Good. I want your mom’s pie.” She made grabby hands. ”But first, cuddles. And cookies.”

Cam eased up beside her, tucking her head into the crook of his shoulder. “You had me worried for a while there, darling.”

Darcy breathed him in, taking in the warm, masculine scent that was all Cam. She felt safe like this, protected. “I handled it. It helped that I knew you guys were coming.”

His arm tightened briefly around her. “Always.” He sighed gustily and passed the plate of cookies over. “I just want to keep you to myself, but I guess I should let everyone know that you’re awake.”

She smiled. “Yeah, sure, let the galloping hoards in. I should at least say thank you.”

 

**Five**

Darcy nudged Cam with her hip as they exited the elevator. “I can’t believe I’m finally going to see Colorado Springs. I was starting to think Cheyenne Mountain was all there was to the entire state,” she teased.

“I know, I know. We can go to the zoo or something. Maybe a restaurant.” He wound an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Cam was such a tactile person. If Darcy was within arm’s reach, she knew that a hand would eventually make its way onto the lower curve of her back, or that his fingers would tangle with hers. It was as though he liked to reassure himself that she was really there and she really couldn’t find it within herself to refuse him that.

Besides, she _liked_ it. Because if Cam touched her, then she could touch him. She loved running her fingers through the short hairs at the nape of his neck – especially before she pulled him down for a kiss. She loved tracing the sharp lines of his face and sliding her hands into the back pockets of his jeans, on the rare occasion that he was actually wearing them.

This was one of those times. He was even wearing that delicious brown leather jacket. She liked wrapping herself in it, surrounded by his warmth and his scent.

The lights began to flash. “Unscheduled off-world activation!”

“Aw, _hell_ ,” Cam swore. He stared down at Darcy, torn. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but I have to-“ he began.

Darcy just shook her head and laughed. “Come on.” She towed him back towards the elevator. “Let’s see what’s going on.”

 

**+One**

Darcy preened and did a little dance in front of the mirror. “I look _good_ ,” she sang, turning this way and that to catch herself from every angle.

Just to clarify: she wasn’t vain. She just knew when she looked good and appreciated the added confidence that could bring her. It had certainly taken her long enough to appreciate the body that her mama gave her and dress it accordingly. Unfortunately, those opportunities were few and far between. Sure, she had a few pencil skirts that she wore when she was working in D.C., but it was more comfortable to move around in a pantsuit, especially if she was running after General O’Neill or Major Davis (which she usually was). When she was at Cheyenne Mountain or Atlantis, she was usually in her SHIELD bodysuit, or in BDUs on the rare occasion that there was a mission.

This, though…this was a special dress for a special day. She felt floaty, feminine, and knockdown gorgeous. But really, that was only to be expected.

Darcy made her way over to the window and peered through the curtains. The gardens below were in exuberant bloom. Bushes of hydrangeas, azaleas, lilacs, and roses were dotted like brilliantly colored clouds amongst a verdant green backdrop. The sun was bright and there was not even a hint of rain in the sky. There are even more flowers in little vases hanging from beribboned chairs, overflowing from seemingly random vases, and draped over arches. The guests were filing in, chatting easily as they sat down. And there, just there – her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him in his dress blues, standing straight and tall and so handsome that her heart, stupid thing that it was, was liable to burst right out of her chest.

She’d always been pragmatic, rather than sentimental and fluffy. But even she had to admit that stopping in to chat with an injured flyboy that she barely knew had been one of the best decisions she’d ever made. Cam was solid and real, the anchor in her storm. He was all warmth and strength and charm, but most of all, he was _hers_. And she would never take that for granted.

How unseemly would it be for her to just launch herself down that aisle and into his arms? She mused. Nah. Vala’s eventual retribution would not be worth it. There was time enough for such things, but not today.

There were no crises today. No super-villains intent on taking over the world, no intergalactic incidents, not even a random explosion courtesy of Tony Stark. If there were, they would have to face her wrath. This was one date that could not be put off or rescheduled.

There was a knock on the door. “Darcy?” Jane poked her head in, her face breaking out in a wide grin as she caught sight of her friend. “There you are. The others have been looking for you.”

Darcy grabbed for her bouquet, taking a moment to appreciate the vibrant colors and scent of the gladioli. “Sorry. Just a little caught up in the moment, you know.”

“I’m pretty sure that that’s allowed on a day like today. Now come on!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”

 

Cam squinted up at the sun. “They’re taking an awful long time in there,” he observed, eyes darting up to the manor house.

“Indeed,” Teal’c intoned, looking pretty darn dapper in his black tuxedo.

“You do know who we’re dealing with here, right?” Daniel asked, subtly adjusting his tie. “Of course it’s going to take some time. And stop fidgeting, Cam, you’re making me nervous.”

“ _Daedalus_ is in orbit,” Cam observed, still vibrating and jumpy – not that anyone would be able to tell, since he was standing stock-still and in a perfect parade rest. “There’s still time to beam us out.”

Teal’c glanced at him, eyebrow raised. “I do not believe that this is an occasion where it is acceptable to be beamed out, Cameron Mitchell.”

“You say that now, Teal’c old buddy…”

Now it was Jack O’Neill who craned his head around to peer at him. “Seriously, Mitchell, knock it off. You’re making it seem like you don’t want to be here.”

“Sir.” Cam swallowed. Honestly, there was nowhere else he wanted to be but here. It wasn’t his fault that his stomach felt like it was full of jumping frogs.

It made no sense, really. This was a special day. A happy day. One of the best days of his life. He really needed to get it together, or Darcy was going to kill him.

And that was the magic word. He hadn’t clapped eyes on her since the night before, and there was nothing he wanted more than to see her now. The frogs subsided and all of the tension leaked out of him. 

That, of course, was the instant that he actually saw her.

Now, Cam was aware that there were actually musicians off to the side and there was real violin music drifting on the breeze. It didn’t take away from the moment, but enhanced it.

 _She walks in beauty_. He hadn’t been lying when he told her that she was made for poetry. The words came easily every time he looked at her, touched her, took her in and held her in that place deep inside him where only she could go.

Darcy was smiling now, that same joyful, uninhibited smile that had caught his attention all those months ago. And just like that moment, all he could do was stop and stare and will himself to breathe. He was lucky. So damn lucky that she’d come careening into his life, all wit and passion and genuine kind-heartedness and general bad-assery, to borrow a phrase of hers. He felt his heart lurch in his chest as she came closer, picturing her in a different dress, one that wasn’t the color of wine. A _white_ dress…

…and coming straight towards him instead of veering off to the side with a saucy wink. Time enough for that, boy, Cam thought as Carolyn followed in a matching dress the color of violets, and then Sam, in midnight blue. They took their places at Darcy’s side, mirroring his position lined up with Teal’c and General O’Neill.

Yep, he thought, watching the wide, silly grin broke out over Daniel’s face as Vala glided down the aisle in a white lace dress fit for the princess she was, there was more than enough time. Still, he mused, turning to face forward as General Landry began the proceedings, there was no harm in thinking about it, especially considering the occasion.

And if there was a certain little box sitting in his sock drawer back at Cheyenne Mountain, well, its time would come.

**Author's Note:**

> I told you guys I'd be exploring more of Darcy and Cam's relationship. I've wanted to write a story in this format for quite some time now. Ugh, they're adorable together.
> 
> Cam quotes lines from e.e. cummings' "i like my body," and Pablo Neruda's "And because Love battles."
> 
> Apologies for the fake-out, but I don't think they're ready for that just yet. There are more things to explore in between...or after. It depends. And there will be more Daniel/Vala, for sure. Just because those crazy kids are together now, doesn't mean I can't go back and write how they got there.


End file.
